Alonso a U.S. citizen; national team status unclear

"I’m very happy for that," he said today after Sounders training. "I’m very proud of myself."

Alonso already had his green card, so his status on the Sounders roster doesn't change. However, his status as a candidate for the U.S. national team might, pending an appeal to FIFA.

"My agent look at it," he said. "I play with the Cuban national team, two games, so he’s going to send a letter to FIFA if I can to play U.S., that’s something I want to do. … He told me I have chance. I’m not allowed to play anymore with Cuba, so I think I have the opportunity to play. If the opportunity comes, I’m very happy with that."

Here's what Sounders goal Sigi Schmid had to say:

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"I’m happy for Ozzie. In terms of the roster, he was already a green card, so that doesn’t affect the roster any. But I’m really happy for Ozzie. It opens up new doors for him and new options. I don’t know if down the line he could be an option for the U.S. national team or not, because I don’t know all the circumstances, whether FIFA would grant him the opportunity to play for the U.S. now since I think he played for Cuba a couple of times, so they have to look into it. I know it’s happen before. I know Chris Armas played for Puerto Rico before he played for the U.S. and was able to switch even after he had play in, I think even some Gold Cup games, or Gold Cup qualifiers. I’m just happy for Ozzie. I think he’s happy about it, and I’m happy for him."

Alonso said his next order of business will be trying to bring his family to the States."I’ve waited for a long time," he said. "Now I’m going to start the process to bring my mother and my sister first. Let’s see what happens in the future."

However, he stopped short of saying that citizenship cements his soccer-career in this country.

"I don’t know," he said. "It’s a hard question. You never know. Soccer is, you have to play in the moment. I can play here a long time. We’ll see what happens in the future. My focus now is in Seattle."

Alonso is expected to return to the Sounders lineup tomorrow against Kansas City after serving a two-game suspension for a dangerous tackle.